Acrylates/Steareth-20 Methacrylate Copolymer in cosmetics: what it is and what it does

What does Acrylates/Steareth-20 Methacrylate Copolymer do in a product?

In a cosmetic product, Acrylates/Steareth-20 Methacrylate Copolymer makes the product thicker or thinner. The EU’s CosIng database lists this job for it: viscosity controlling.

What is Acrylates/Steareth-20 Methacrylate Copolymer?

Acrylates/Steareth-20 Methacrylate Copolymer is a copolymer of the ester of methacrylic acid and Steareth-20 (q.v.) and one or more monomers of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid or one of their simple esters.

CosIng reference

31663

Which products contain Acrylates/Steareth-20 Methacrylate Copolymer?

Open Beauty Facts finds Acrylates/Steareth-20 Methacrylate Copolymer in the ingredient lists of 26 of the 22,021 products it has a list for, most often shampoos and hair care.

• Shampoos2
• Hair care1

Products with it, by country of sale: Australia 14 · United States 5 · France 2 · Netherlands 1.

Counted on 13 October 2026 from Open Beauty Facts, which volunteers fill from real packs: it shows where Acrylates/Steareth-20 Methacrylate Copolymer turns up, not how much of the market it is.

Sources

The job, the description and the EU annex entry are CosIng’s; the fragrance allergens are the EU Annex III names Bravoora’s label checker reads; the product counts are Open Beauty Facts’.

1. European Commission: CosIng cosmetic ingredient database (functions, description, EU annex entry)
2. Open Beauty Facts: product database, 77,506 products, read 13 October 2026, ODbL

Contains information from Open Beauty Facts, which is made available here under the Open Database License (ODbL). Read the licence · Download this dictionary’s data · How we check